"Jennifer please come back", her mother pleaded watching her daughter storm into the forest in a rage.
Jennifer had a simple life, a boyfriend who was in a rock band, and finishing up High School. Yet she still had those arguments with her mother, all of them ending with her racing to the forest as fast as she can.
She went uphill, kicking a can with her shoe having the satisfaction of watching gravity push it up and pull it back to her feet, feeling a gush of wind she looked behind her only to see her house in the distance. Turning her head in the other direction she forced herself to walk to the top of the hill where trees started to cover what's ahead. Brushing them away with her hands, she felt a cold gust of autumn air making her shiver a bit,"I should have worn my sweater", she groaned dreading going back to the house to just grab something warm to wear. She kept going through the path she wanted to go in her head. Jennifer loved exploring the forest near her house, at night she can hear the occasional wolf howl at midnight. The sky was getting dark as the sun was down and all that could be seen was a couple clouds covering the blank sky, sprinkled with the glow of stars. Hearing the insects make noise she stopped in place,"Maybe I should just go back".
Jennifer made her mind to go back to her house even if it means apologizing to her mother.
"You look cold", a tall figure hiding behind a tree spoke in a deep voice.
"There you are I thought you were farther back in the forest", Jennifer walked up to the skinny man giving him a hug. See the two were close friends, the first time they met it was the cold of Winter. Jennifer was riding on her sleigh until she tumbled to the side from a quick turn, landing into the soft snow, the cold air brushing against her face, she covered it with her warm gloves. The snow falling at a great speed, making the location of where she is unrecognizable, even if it was during the day the sky was dark and grey. She turned around eying a skinny man peaking from the trees. Jennifer picked her sleigh and trotted to his spot,"Hey there are you alright?"
The man hid again, he must have been scared by her presence.
"Here", she took a backpack off her shoulders and brought out a Peanut Butter Sandwhich.
"You look like your starving have my sandwhich", she waved it like a flag to him. Trembling he took the sandwhich quickly from grasp, replied a Thanks and tried to gobble up the treat, unfortunately the figure had no mouth and the sandwhich got smashed around and smeared into the white covering, the rest ended up falling and getting covered by snow.
"Sorry I usually don't have a sence of taste since I was born without a mouth" he joked. Jennifer let out a slight giggle of the mess he made on his mouth and how he didn't bother cleaning himself afterwards.
"You have a name, you seem like a good fellow"
The girl smiled brightly, no one wanted to be her friend before {mostly because she was the troublemaker at school}.
"Im Jennifer", reaching her hand to grab his. The handshake felt awkward as the hand felt lifeless weighing little to nothing, like a puppet's hand.
"They call me Slenderman, I know its strange", Slenderman blushed, his cheeks comically risen to a pink color.
Jennifer smirked,"I don't mind a strange name"
The two played for a couple hours making snow angels and having snowball fights.
"You have really beautiful eyes", Slenderman complimented the child even though he had no way to see with the missing case of a pair of eyes.
"Why thank you, you also have good….", noticing his lack of features made her stumble and move to the side.
Slenderman laughed pulling her into a loving hug with his long stick like arms.
The two were an inseparable pair, even when Winter ended and spring flowers bloom so did their friendship. Watching the butterflies fly around Slenderman even one landing on his…nose. They shared laughter, they shared food, they shared life experiences.
It was one day however that the two wouldn't forget, Slenderman surprised her one afternoon taking her to a beautiful spot near a lake, with the relaxing sounds of the water rushing and crashing into nearby rocks clashing and making soothing sounds that mixed with the chirps of cardinals from the trees. Jennifer told him she was in charge of bringing food, as Slenderman usually didn't like to travel across the town she lived in. He said the last time he was there was when a group of teenagers were taking selfies on their cellphones, posing in the background before running away as a joke, until he heard their screams calling him a monster. He would try to cry but of course no eyes, making the pain and rejection feel worse. Jennifer while a jerk to everyone at her school was the only friend Slenderman could make that wouldn't be afraid of him. He couldn't explain how he looked, he waked up in the forest, all he remembered was the animal friends he had when he was a SlenderBoy, in fact the animals considered him the King of the Forest thinking he was sent by the spirit of the forest to lead and guide them.
He skipped in the puddles when it rained cheering a catchy tune in his head. Made a fire for himself and brushed his hands together to stay warm. He saw fireworks in the sky, amazed tried to find the source.
Seeing a town in the distance with moving creatures called 'humans' setting off fireworks in the sky and seeming to have a good time. Laying on the grass playfully he took turns watching the fireworks and watching the humans on the ground.
Slenderman wanted to tell Jennifer how much he loved her, how her presence makes him feel like the happiest….thing on Earth. Telling stories to the animals of the forest about her beauty, even finding a harmonica in a park trash and writing music about his love. He would get nervous, sweaty, even walk in circles deep in thought.
Now that it was Fall, Jennifer once again appeared before him, she must have someone that loved her, surprised no one wanted to spend time with her.
"It was my mother again, she told me to go make friends at school, I know right? No one wants to be friends with someone like me", she mumbled.
Slenderman shook his head,"You should walk up to them and speak your heart, get into their conversations, and computer clubs and whatever they do at your place of education"
"Im just too shy to really talk to anyone, other than you, your amazing, always there for me", Jennifer spoke.
"Jennifer, I know we haven't really been together for really long, its been almost a year and I've been thinking…", stuttering, his heart panicking with words to say,"Will you be my boyfriend?", putting his head down in shame at his choice of words. She had a frown on her face.
"Im sorry, I..kinda have a boyfriend already, he's a guitar player in my schools band"
"But….I play the harmonica, Im writing another song about you.."
Jennifer tried changing the subject,"But we can still be friends right?"
Jennifer couldn't see it but Slenderman was on the brink of crying, but having no eyes found that a problem.
"I—I guess we can", Slenderman let out.
Jennifer looked happier,"Great…well I might as well go back to my house", she walked back and headed out of the forest.
"Yeah, you do that….",Slenderman curled up into a ball in sadness.
